I have 1.6 turbo miata engine out of the car an on the stand. Changing seals, cleaning stuff up, and swapping parts. Now you can read an research for days and watch YouTube vids on builds but I’m just curious on what the Miata turbo community thinks.. I have a question about the harmonic balancer and oil pump.

Is it worth upgrading if your boosting for about 250 HP on stock block daily driver? They go for about $800-900 together from Fab9Tuning. Checking based on your experiences if it’s worth the price tag, if not that money can go into other parts. Again not building a track cat. Just a fun 250lb daily drive or weekend driver.

Just curious bout vibrations and cracking ?

 

I ran my 1.6 @15psi on a GT2860r for 3 years with no issues. Stock damper and oil pump

 

I went stock damper stock pump on my super budget rods only street car build. If I wanted to be super safe I would have added a billet pump with stock damper.

If you aren't even putting rods in then run the stock stuff and keep the rev limit sane.

But really you want rods.

 

So maybe some Manley connecting rods, ACL rod bearings and some ARP studs with a Boundary Oil pump ?

 

That would make for an extremely reliable setup for 250 hp. More money than I would put in a 1.6 though.

 

Ya that’s why I’m asking questions on here for what do I really need to run a safe 250hp setup? Don’t wanna waste money, would rather add that money to other parts of the build if I really don’t need it .

Like do I really need upgrade pump and balancer or do o really need rods, just rods.
trying get everyone’s feed back who’s had experience with this on their setups.

 

Ok then. I vote rods with fresh bearings and rings and a hone. Reuse the stock head bolts.

 

Appreciate it bud, what’s a hone?

 

I vote a full send until you lose the 1.6 and swap in a 1.8

 

I agree. Dont do a thing to it and run it

 

For the price of either a set of rods and bearings or a boundary pump you can pick up a junkyard 1.8. You will hopefully get a variable TPS and will certainly get much better breathing heads and intake and will not have to work as hard to get to your 250 goal. And you will end up with a turbo exhaust manifold that will be worth more if you ever decide to sell it.

 

This. I have done the 1.6 turbo route and going to a 1.8 early will be huge! If I could do it all over I would have done that. And if i was even smarter i would have left the 1.6 alone and just k swapped for 250hp non turbo

 

K swap is pricey.

 

True but when you compare it to a built block and head, turbo, exhaust bits, intercooler, misc ****. Starts to seem about a wash.

 

250 wheel or crank? 250 crank is about 220 wheel and requires nothing but fresh seals and a timing belt.

250 wheel you maaaaay want to do cheap ebay rods and new rings depending whag you are doing. If it's a street car and you aren't beating on it, it's fine as is.

 

Just run the 1.6 as is at 15 psi and you'll be fine. Anything that requires you to remove the block (ie, rods and pistons) you might as well replace the block with a 1.8 while you have the engine hoist handy.

 

Do not rebuild your 1.6L, that is a bad idea for bad people who do bad things

Run it as-is until it blows up

Buy and build a 1.8L setup on the side. For a reliable 250whp you need rods, bearings, head/main studs, and a VVT oil pump (high flow). When 1.6L blows up, or when you finish 1.8L setup, swap and enjoy

 

Noun:
A tool consisting of an abrasive material used in a rotary motion to smooth the inside of a bore.

Verb:
The act of smoothing the inside of a bore by the use of a honing tool.


Basically, old worn bores get little marks and **** in them, a hone smooths them out.